Guns Over Flowers
by CuppieCakiee
Summary: Lightning is a skilled soldier. Right when she was about to be ranked to a higher position, she gets into trouble. As punishment, she is going to be SOLDIER for a year. However, more trouble may be in her way...or so she thought?
1. The Beginning of Trouble

A/N: Alright, this isn't really my first fic. But I'm still a noob in writing stories so please forgive me for some errors. This fic may contain OOCness. I do not own Final Fantasy XIII, Versus XIII, X-2 and VII. :)

* * *

**Chapter One : **

**.The Beginning of Trouble.**

* * *

"Cid over." A woman whispered through her walkie talkie as she slyly hid herself in the dark and hide-able side of the hallway. "Yeah?" was the response from the radio. She refrained herself from talking as a couple of guards were passing by.

"I'm already here." She replied, seeing the guards disappear from her sight.

"Great job, Lightning. Now, you know what to do."

"Yeah, yeah. Go head for the backstage climb above and look if _he's_ there." She looked at the backstage door. There were two guards behind it. She could just sense it.

"That's right and when you do see him you-"

"I'm not a kid, Cid. Quit it." She glared at the walkie talkie as if it was Cid.

"Ha...ha. Man, you should **control** your temper, Light. Sheesh." He replied childishly, emphasizing the word "control". Lightning just rolled her eyes. She could hear Cid chuckling on the other line.

"Alright, alright. I'll shoot him when I see him."

"Good luck with that Light."

She smirked and ran like a ninja. Each step she take didn't leave a sound. She zipped her black spy clothing and revealed a normal and casual one. She wore an I.D. around her neck with the word "PRESS" printed on it and carried a professional looking camera. She knocked on the door. The door opened and revealed a man in black with black sunglasses. Lightning showed her I.D. He, then, gave way to her.

"Wait."

Lightning turned back at him. Did he find out? She sighed heavily. "Wh-What?"

"The camera. No picture taking."

She gave him the camera and sighed in relief. _That was close. _She paused for a while and felt her stomach starting to whine._ It must be Serah's pie_. It stopped, fortunately. She quickly ran to backstage and sneaked her way up above the stage. She grabbed the gun that was hidden with her.

"Cid. I'm here."

"Good. Did you see him?"

She began to look for the criminal and spotted a man in black. He was near the performers on stage...specifically, he **was** one of them.

"_Ring ding dong ring ding dong diggi diggi ding ding ding_" The song went as the singers and performers danced to it. Including the criminal with his face emotionless. Her eyes turned to the singers. They were quite young and wore black. The five of them didn't show any signs of stress or tiredness from dancing and singing. She heard a chuckle from her walkie talkie.

"I didn't know you like SHINee." Cid teased as if he was with her. Her eyes narrowed. "For your information, I don't know who they are or what they are singing about and I don't care what it meant. If you're here, then show up already!" She said loudly, enough to get everyone's attention if the music weren't so loud. She took a glance at the criminal, watching every inch of his move. He started to pull something off his pockets. Lightning narrowed her eyes and widened them as she saw what it was. A smoke bomb.

As she was about to shift herself to action, the bars can barely hold her anymore and broke. This send her falling into the ground. She closed her eyes and found herself landing on something soft.

"Yah! Noona! I'm never going to grow manlier and taller than my hyungs!" Said the youngest singer. The music immediately stopped and everyone's eyes fell on her. Luckily, this stopped the criminal from throwing the bomb. Lightning was quick to snapped herself from shock and gave the criminal a swift punch in the stomach. He flinched and the bomb dropped to the floor then gave off the smoke.

_Shoot._

People started to run for their lives. Some of the performers ran but the singers remained, confused of what's going on. Lightning coughed and searched for the criminal. She caught sight of him. She quickly got her gunblade and shoot him in the foot. He fell unto his knees. "Tch."

She smirked but it faded away as he showed a time bomb from his pockets. Now it was his turn to smirk. He threw it towards them and tried to escape but his injury was still keeping him to the ground. "Sayonara biatch." He said while struggling to escape.

"You gotta get out of here now!"

"Noona! We can't leave you h-" The guards quickly shoved SHINee to safety. As for Lightning, she quickly ran from the stage and the place went BOOM!

* * *

Lightning woke up and found herself in the hospital bed. How did she end up here? Oh yeah.

_BOOM! _

_"HAHAHAHAHA! SO LONG SUCKERS!" with that the criminal jumped on the chopper. Lightning threw him a rock and knocked him unconscious. Short temper much? _

_Her head started to spin and eventually the world became black._

Yep. She fainted. But the good thing is her headache eased and also her stomach. She made a note to herself that Serah's apple pie is bad for her especially eating it before her mission. She examined the room. It was quite spacious and neat and it seems like she's the only person in the room.

"OMG! I'M GLAD YOU'RE ALIVE!" Vanille glomped her, much to Lightning's surprise. _On the second thought..._

"Oh Vanille. It was just an injury." Fang said, giving her cousin a slight _BAM!_ on the head. "Light! I'm glad you're okay." Serah said running to her sister and gave her a quick hug. _Oh gosh, Snow would be better if he's not-_

"Hey sis!"

_Tch._

Lightning gave Snow a quick death glare. Of all men, why him? Snow just ignored the glare as if it was nothing. "What happened?"

"You fell unconscious and injured your right knee. Good thing that Key called for an ambulance." Serah explained as she and Vanille had the dreamy look when she said "Key." Lightning just rolled her eyes. _These two..._

"And oh! Cid says he wants to talk to you."

"Now?"

"Well, he said he'll call you later." Lightning shuddered. She knew something bad was about to happen. Although her face doesn't tell what she is feeling right now, Lightning was getting nervous.

"So, did you get their autographs?"

Lightning sighed. _Oh Serah and her fangirl-ness._


	2. Yep, It's Trouble

Guns Over Flowers

A/N: I had more vacant time nowadays since it's almost summer. So, I'll be updating this fic more.

* * *

**Chapter Two:**

**.Yep It's Trouble.**

* * *

"I am disappointed in you." The boss, Cid Raines, said with a very stern face -not to mention tone and voice. "**Very**."

Lightning just looked down as if nothing happened. This was a trait she developed for years after the loss of her parents. Right when she was about to be ranked to a higher position, she gets into trouble. This is great, just great. Cid looked at her with a straight face.

Let's see, the damages for the area: very big and very expensive; her reputation and the possibility of getting fired: a 50-50 chance to avoid the fired part since Cocoon's most **expensive** and **biggest **stadium was destroyed by the bombing. Lightning's combat skills are refined and flawless - not to mention AWESOME! But one slice of Serah's pie was a huge mistake. Her stomach wasn't feeling so good since the start of the mission.

"Farron." He started. "You are a very skilled soldier and we can't afford to fire you from the job." She gave out a sigh of relief. "Other than that, you are also my friend." He continued.

"So, we have to transfer you to Shinra as punishment."

_Good- wait. What!_

She turned to Cid with a shock look on her face. Did he... ? IS he serious? "What?" She said.

"We have to transfer you to SOLDIER. They're running low on troops since Geostigma is also affecting them nowadays. But don't worry, it's temporary." Oh great. _As long as it's only for a week._

"Maybe... for a year." he said.

Lightning's eyes widened. For a year? _Are you kidding me?_ "Am I clear, Farron?" She just sighed heavily. "Yes, sir."

"You are dismissed." She walked out of the room as Cid watched her close the office door.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

An amused smiled crept over his face. Oh boy, this is going to be fun. He glanced over a picture frame on his desk which was right next to his coffee. "Besides... there's something bugging me in that place."

* * *

"Hey sis~"

Oh man, he's here. Snow waved his hand with Serah in the kitchen. Lightning, obviously, was not amused. Nothing was more worse than Snow Villiers for her. "Welcome home sis." Serah flashed a smile. "Why is he here?" She coldly said, pointing to Snow. "Well he's helping me out with some things." Lightning rolled her eyes as she saw that stupid grin plastered all over his face. First being transferred to Shinra, now him. What could get any worse for Lightning?

"Hey sis, I heard your last mission was on SHINee's concert, right?" Serah said, facing her sister with interest. "Yeah."

"YOU SHOUD'VE BROUGHT ME WITH YOU!" Lightning facepalmed. Even though Serah looked kind and gentle and all, but she has this side of her when she wants to glomp celebrities and idols she liked. "You know Serah, you could get in trouble if you do since I was after a criminal back there."

"But... I want to see Jonghyun oppa." _Since when did she start using that word?_

Lightning massaged her head. So much has been happening that day. "Serah, look, I got to go upstairs and packed my things."

"Why? You're leaving again?"

"No. I'm going to Shinra. I've been transferred to SOLDIER temporarily." The two people watched her climbing the stairs but she paused and gave Snow one last glare. "And you." she started. "Watch out and I'll kill you." Snow gulped. He was used to the glares she had sent him but this one was just too scary.

* * *

Meanwhile...

"Yeah. One big pizza for us." A silver haired man said with the phone to his ear and an ice pack on his forehead. "How much would that cost? Oh good. I'll pay as you deliver. Bye."

BEEP! BEEP!

A silver-haired man with shorter hair went for the door and opened it. "Greenwich delivery. One big pizza for you." said the delivery man with a smile. He just gave him the money, snatched the pizza and slammed the door shut on the delivery man's face.

"Hey Loz. Nice manners." Said a silver haired man with long hair. The short haired man, by the name of Loz, put the pizza on tthe table before his brothers. The aroma of pizza charmed the three of them as the long haired man opened the cardboard pizza box.

"Yazoo. Let's dig in."

However, the other brother just watched them eat as he suffered from the pain in his head. That was one little yet a big hit. Hah! A rock can't kill him. "Kadaj, you should eat before the pizza gets cold. You just woke from being unconscious for two days."

Or so...

"I'm still thinking of a way to get revenge on that woman! How dare she throw me with a rock." He said, showing his injury. Sometimes, he overacts too much. _Way too much._

"Aww... come on. Just dig in." Yazoo told him. Kadaj just rolled his eyes and took a slice. _Hm.. not bad._ He thought as he took another bite.

* * *

"Why can't I come with you this time?" Serah said as she packed one of her clothes to her luggage. Lightning was still packing her weapons. She turned to her. "Because you may get affected by Geostigma." Lightning confidently replied. This was kinda true but the actual reason was that she may get in trouble if she goes there for who knows what kind of monsters or villains or something might be there. As she packs her gunblade, she zips it close.

"You stay here with Vanille okay?" She smiled at her as she patted her head. Serah staying with Vanille and Fang was a good idea. She doesnt trust Snow or she never will. Serah nodded childishly then beamed as she said. "What about Snow? He'll take care of me too."

Lightning sighed. "Just. Take care of yourself okay?"

Lightning glanced at her clock. It was allready 6:30 in the morning. The train will leave for Gaia within thirty minutes. She turned to her sister who was already done packing. "Ready sis?"

"Yeah. Let's go."


	3. What the Hell

**Chapter Three**

**.What the Hell.**

* * *

"_Passengers, we would like to announce that we're now landing on the world of Gaia. Thank you for waiting_."

Lightning woke up from the sound of the announcement. She glanced over the window since her seat was right beside it. It looked like a peaceful planet but the atmosphere was quite gloomy. Was it because of the Geostigma? She was quite aware of that illness but it didn't seemed to bother her unless Serah were to tag along. As the plane - space ship - docked, Lightning went off immediately. The passengers were quite few since people were afraid of the illness.

As she was about to leave the port, she saw a man in black. She paused as he saw him approaching with two bodyguards following him.

"Hello, Lightning." The man said. "I'm Rufus Shinra." Both people shook hands. _He seems nice... or so I thought. _The man led him to his car. Lightning still kept a straight face, not showing if she was nervous or not. Another bodyguard opened the door. Rufus politely asked Lightning to go in first since she was a lady.

Once they all got in the car, they began to head for headquarters. Lightning remained silent during the whole trip. Rufus would ask her a few questions to break the deafening silence and she would answer them briefly. To Lightning, he seemed like a nice man but there was something about him that is really weird. She looked out to the window and saw a building.

_It must be the headquarters. _She thought.

When they arrived, Rufus had gotten out first. He stretched his hand to Lightning.

"I can handle it by myself." She said. As she was about to get out of the car, he blocked her. He stretched out his hand again. She sighed and held his hand. "Welcome to SOLDIER."

She examined the place. It was quite massive.

* * *

Meanwhile...

"Waaahhh! This is awesome!" Cried Serah, looking at the colorful gems at the clear glass case.

"They were imported from Earth." said an old lady who appears to be the store owner. Serah watched the gems in amazement as they sparkled brilliantly. "These gems are magical ones." The old lady started as she dusted one of the dusty shelves. "According to the legend, it can grant a wish."

"A wish?" Serah blinked innocently. The old lady smiled. "Yes. All you have to do is to hold it close to your heart and wish sincerely. Who knows it might come true."

"Wow!" Serah looked at the glass case once more. _If I wish for something... will it come true? _She thought. The old lady started to open the glass case and took out a yellow one. She handed it to Serah who was surprised. "G-Grandma! I can't accept this!"

"Think of it as a Thank You gift for me since you helped me with this shop for the whole month." Serah handed the gem in her hands. "A-Are you sure about this?"

"Positively."

"Thank you Grandma!" She exclaimed.

* * *

Rufus showed Lightning around headquarters. All of the SOLDIERs were men. That means she'll be the first female SOLDIER. However, she wasn't a first class so things may go roughly for her. Lightning smirked at the thought. She'll show them what she got.

As the tour ended, they went outside. Rufus offered her to stay in a hotel but she refused. "I'll find a place to stay." She said. He kept on insisting but she won instead. "Okay. I won't force you." He said. "You can explore all you want. Good luck, Farron."

She watched him leave. She carried her bags and went to find a place to stay. She's a strong woman. She'll survive the toughest things that may come up during work.

* * *

_Why..?_ The king massaged his head from the migraine he has. It wasn't the papers and all that he was worried about. It was his son. Sure, he was an emo-looking guy with a cold personality. But he had caused trouble double time.

"Son." He started. "I know you know that I'm having headaches and migraines recently from work." He lied. The raven haired guy looked at his father without any emotion in his face. He knows where this is going. "But, I think I should send you to Shinra to refine your skills."

_What the hell? _He looked at him with a surprised look. Although he knew he would say that, still the words that were coming out of his father's mouth could make it even much more surprising than he thought. "You can't be serious."

"I am, Noctis." He said sternly. "And you're going to go there by tomorrow. You'll be automatically in the first class by taking a first class mission."

"But-"

"No buts, Noctis. Start packing your things now. I've already picked a mission for you. Do it this afternoon."

Noctis didn't have a choice. He went outside the castle and saw Prompto and the others waiting for him.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." He said.  
"I should be the one who should say sorry. After all, it was my fault for getting you in this mess." The blonde replied looking down to the ground.

"Don't worry. At least this'll keep me from being bored." What he said was half true. Life was getting pretty boring for him. Also, after exposing his dad's secret got him in trouble and it's all thanks to Prompto. "Let's go."

"Where are we going?"

"To fulfill a mission." Noctis said as he was about to get on the car. Prompto's remark made him pause. "I thought that was done by this afternoon."

"Eavesdropping again?"

"How could I resist?"

He rolled his eyes and got on.

* * *

Lightning went exploring around Gaia. Good thing she has a good sense of directions and a good memory. That way, she won't get lost too easily. She wandered in shops, cafes, and many other sightings. Maybe Gaia isn't really that bad at all. Everybody's just scared because they think that the illness is contagious...or the rumor that Sephiroth is still wandering in the planet.

She shrugged about the thought of Sephiroth. _Nah... that's just a rumor. _She thought as she continued walking.

_Bump!_

A girl with black hair had bumped to her and her groceries were on the ground. Luckily, it looked like she was shopping for canned goods so they didn't really spoil. "I'm sorry." The girl quickly got up and bowed in apology. "Don't worry. I didn't see you either." She replied. "Let me help you with that."

Light began to pick up the cans that were close to her. "D-Don't. I can handle it myself." she said. Lightning looked up to her and gave her a grin. "It's okay. You would get into trouble if you carry these two big bags by yourself."

_She's got a point there._

As the two were done, Lightning accompanied the girl to her place carrying the bag with her. It's not like she has something to do after that.

"We're here." she beamed as they entered a building. "Thank you for your help." Lightning examined the place. _It looks like a bar. _

"Oh, you can put that in the counter." She said as she put the paper bag in the counter. "Thank you very much." Lightning placed hers in the same counter and sighed. "Well." She started. "I should get going. See ya."

"W-Wait!"

Too late. The door closed with the sound of the little bells. "I forgot to ask for her name."

* * *

A/N: Nothing much in this chapter. Don't worry, the good parts has yet to come. :D Who knew Rufus could be a gentleman.


	4. Passed the Test    Or So

A/N: Writing this chapter really got on my nerves - blame it on my laptop for low battery. Oh yeah, I think shotgun guy's name is Prompto right? Anyway, the good parts will be coming soon! *shivers* Has anyone heard of the Thai movie Coming Soon? It's really creepy.

* * *

**Chapter Four**

**.Passed the Test...Or so.**

* * *

Last night was a drag for Lightning. She had found a place to stay. But thanks to her rock 'n roll neighbor and hard bed, it was hard for her to sleep. Her back was aching from the bed. She made a note to herself that she would find another place to stay where it is peace, quite and comfy.

She yawned. Now she was sleepy on her first day at SOLDIER. _Not good._ She thought and yawned again. She was wearing the same uniform she wore back in Cocoon. It was pretty comfortable for her.

She entered the building and went to the director's office. She looked at the SOLDIERs that passed by her. She didn't seem to be surprised that they were staring at her since she knew that they weren't used to see a girl around the building. As she arrived at the door of the office, she knocked and heard a faint "Come in."

Lightning entered the office and saw a man sitting on a chair. "You must be Lightning Farron." He said with a smile. "Take your seat." She sat down on a chair which was in front of the director's desk. "I'm in charge of SOLDIER when the president is away. Since President Rufus Shinra is at meeting, I'll be the one to guide you for now. Supposedly, SOLDIERs have their rooms on their own here with the exception of the 1st class SOLDIERS. But since you are a female, you won't be staying here. I bet the president has arranged you for a place to stay." He continued as he looked for her file.

"I declined his offer." She replied. "I can find a place on my own."

"Oh I see. Where are you staying at?" He asked as he found her file and began to flip through the pages of the file. "At an apartment nearby." She replied. She felt sleepy again although she doesn't show it.

"I see." He said. "So your rank is higher than I thought. I guess you should take the test to be first class."

"The test?"

"Yes. If you pass, then you'll be automatically a first class." He explained as he closed the portfolio. "It starts today actually." Lightning thought about it and thought about the possibilities. She might get into more trouble if she's i the lower class since people are striving for higher classes. Then if she's in the first class, she wouldn't have to struggle but the missions would be quite difficult and would involve more serious matters.

"Fine by me."

"Good. Genesis will take you to the exam room." He glanced to the man who was carrying a book beside the door. Since when did he came in? Lightning stood up and followed Genesis as he went out.

Silence was between them as they walk. Lightning wasn't really bothered by this since he looked like a man who could barely talk. She could feel her eyes getting tired and yawned quietly.

"I know we haven't had a proper introduction." He paused for a while. "I'm Genesis."  
"Lightning." They both shook their hands, her face didn't seem like she was pleased or not. "The test is quite difficult. But you can use anything to defeat it." He started. She smirked. _Anything, huh?_

"I'll keep that in mind." Her tone sounded like she already knew. After that they began talking until they arrived at the area where the test would begin. They entered the room. The room was quite spacious than it looked like from outside. It was just a plain, wide and spacious four sided wall painted in clean white with a wide glass window at the top side of the left wall. _That's where they will watch me fight I guess. _She thought.

"Good luck, Lightning." He said and left. As the door was shut, the room began to change into a nigh time meadow with glowing flowers and fireflies.

"_Oh yeah, the room changes when you fight. Don't worry you're not teleported or anything. It's the same room. Once the fight is over, everything will back to normal._"

Out of the blue, ferocious monsters began to appear and surround her. No surprised look was on her face. She faced monsters that were far more ferocious than these. As the surrounding monsters began to charge to her, she began to jump high in the air and shoot them with her gunblade. As they were knocked out, they disappeared instantly. She landed in the soft grass safely. She turned around and more monsters were coming to her. She calmly shoot them with no worries. As more monsters began to appear, the more calmly she would shoot at them. _This is just too easy._

"_Not bad. Not bad at all. Now it's time for the big one._"

The earth started to shake. She turned to her back and saw a more large and ferocious monster. Still, no sign of surprise was shown. She shoot right through it's eye. The monster roared in pain. She summoned Odin and they both attacked the monster until it disappeared.

The scenery changed to a normal room again. She heard the door open and saw Genesis. "Not bad. You passed the test." he said. She was amused as she saw his slightly shocked face. "For me that is. The results will be known by tomorrow." Now it was his turn to be amused as Lightning's victory smirk faded.

"You can go around now. If you want to." She headed for the door and left the room.

* * *

Meanwhile...

"Would you look at that!" Prompto exclaimed as he saw the planet from his window. "Since when did you tag along?" He asked coldly. His blonde friend, who was too busy looking with awe at Gaia, ignored the prince. "I can't believe we're almost there!"

Noctis rolled his eyes. This is going to be tough for him.

* * *

Lightning decided to explore the building again. She had been fully awakened after the test from the adrenaline rush and all. That's good thing...or is it not?  
She was thinking of Serah. _How is she doing? Is she okay? Has she eaten? _Questions were swirling around her head that was concerning about Serah. As she was about to go past into a corner, she bumped into somebody again.

She landed her butt on the ground. It must be something big since she fell. She looked over to see a man with black hair and carried a sword with him. She stood up as if nothing had happened. "Sorry 'bout that. I wasn't looking." She said.

"It was my fault too. I'm sorry." The man replied and laughed innocently. "What are you doing-"

"_Ring ding dong ring ding dong-_"

"Hello? Yeah... Okay... Bye" The man, then, hung up his phone. "I got to go. See ya!" With that, he ran off. Lightning watched him as he disappeared.

* * *

It was already noon. Lightning was at a nearby restaurant for lunch. It was quite unusual since she was used to Vanille's never-ending talk.

"Hey, it's you!"

Lightning turned to owner of the voice. It was the girl from yesterday. "Thanks a lot for yesterday."

"No problem."

"What's your name? I'm Tifa Lockhart."

"Lightning Farron."

After a brief introduction, the two began to talk and talk until t was already dark. The two went outside the restaurant. "So, since you've come from Cocoon, where are you staying?"  
"At a nearby apartment. I'm planning to move by tomorrow since my neighbor's really loud."

"You could stay at my place." She beamed. Lightning looked at her with the _are-you-serious? _face. "Are you sure? We just met." She replied.

"It's for yesterday's help." She said calmly. Who knew that helping someone could bring extra luck. She doesn't have a choice. She doesn't know anyone else in Gaia.

"Alright."

"That's great!" She said. "I have to go. The kids are waiting for me. See ya, Light!" With that, she left. Lightning went back to her apartment.


	5. Oh Maiii GOSH!

A/N: Late update! So sorry about that. Unfortunately, my mom got me a summer job. So, I'll be having less time to update this fic. Besides! Who knew that I would add a little of SHINee in this fic. HEHE! Also, I would like to thank those who reviewed especially Luxuria De'Voire for the tips!

Kamsahamnida for the reviews~

* * *

**Chapter Five  
.Oh Maiiiiii GOSH~!.**

* * *

"_Everyday I shock! Every night I shock!_" Lightning woke up from the sound of her phone's ring tone. She had slept quietly since her neighbor was invited to a party. Unfortunately, the bed was so hard that she can't sleep comfortably. She glanced at her clock. _3:00 A.M. _it read. She picked up her phone lazily. Who would be calling at this time in the morning? "Hello."

"Hello, Farron." said the caller. It sounded like the director. Lightning straightened up and sat. "I would like to inform you that you passed the exam. I was quite impressed by your skills." She just nodded. She was still tired but tried to listen to the rest anyway. Minutes had passed until it was already two hours since they've talked. Lightning yawned quietly. She glanced at her clock. It was almost five. Her lids began to feel heavy and slowly, she was shutting her eyes. Suddenly, she heard a loud chuckle on the other line causing her to be wide awake.

"All of the SOLDIERS are men. Watch out or they'll try to flirt you." He teased. Lightning rolled her eyes.

"Anyway, good luck tomorrow." With that, he hung up. _Finally!_ She cheered mentally. Lightning put down her phone and went back to sleep.

* * *

The next day...

"Hey Cloud." said the black haired man with spiky hair. "I heard there were two new SOLDIERs!" The blonde man with spiky hair, who appears to be called Cloud, looked at his black, spiky haired friend with a straight face. "So?"

"They're in the first class man! After taking such a difficult mission and the test!" The blonde simply went back to cleaning his huge sword.

"Gentlemen." said the director as he walked in the room where all the first class SOLDIERs would gather - which include the black, spiky haired man and the blonde guy named Cloud. It also seemed that he brought a black haired man with him.

All eyes fell on the director as he began to announce. "I would like you to meet Noctis Lucis Caelum. He's new so please be nice with him." The black haired man just looked at the room, not caring to say a simple "_Hello_"

"I'll be attending a few errands so I'll leave him to you Angeal." The tall man with broad muscles, whose black hair is slicked back except for two bangs of hair with one on each side, just nodded. Taking another glance at the "_newbie_", he left.

* * *

Lightning ran as fast as she could to the building. She woke up more late than yesterday thanks to the director's phone conversation earlier that morning. But the good thing is that all the running made it an exercise -and a warm up - for the trainings and missions that will happen on that day. However, the bad thing is that she was new and not to mention **late** in work. What would happen to her if she arrived later than now? Whether something good or bad is going to happen to her after this, the only thing that was on her mind was: **run**...like hell.

She entered the building and ran into the hallway. She ran into a couple of SOLDIERs who were just passing by her. Some gave her glares for bumping or making them throw their papers in the air. Others...well, let's say they gave her this _hey-hottie _look which were the ones she ignored the most.

She didn't pay any attention to where she was going until she paused as she arrived at an intersection. All this panicking made her lost which was absolutely a bad thing. Now that she thought of it, was she going in the right way? Or, most importantly, where is the director?

"Farron?"

Lightning turned to her back and saw the director. _Man, I'm so in trouble again. _She thought. Her face remained calm and composed and she didn't show any signs that she was running just because she was late. Amazingly, she did not pant nor sweat at all.

"You just came in time. I have to introduce you to-"

"_Ring ding dong ring ding dong diggi ding diggi ding ding ding~"_

"Excuse me for a moment." The director moved away from Lightning as he talked on his phone. Lightning had very good ears and she could hear their conversation a bit. Their conversation was quite suspicious for her but it seemed like it didn't involved in anything bad. The director went back to her. "Come now. Let's introduce you to the others." With that, she followed him.

They past by a few men. Some would greet them "_Good morning_" and the director would flash a smile. Others would wink at Lightning but eventually she ignored them.

As they arrived at the door of the room where the director had lead her, she sighed. Will everything be alright if she's in SOLDIER? Being the only woman didn't bother her that much since she can kick their butts off if anyone tries to mess with her. She let out a heavy breath as he opened the room which revealed a group of men doing their own businesses. Their attention was caught by the director as he began to speak once again. "Gentlemen. I would like you to meet your new comrade." Lightning, who was still outside, was right behind him. he could see all the first class SOLDIERs. The director gave way for her to go inside. As she entered the room, she was quite amused by the shocked expressions on their face with the exception of Genesis since he had met her and knew that she would pass from the very beginning. _Hah! Who said a woman isn't so strong huh?_

"This is Lightning Farron." The director said, also amused by their faces. "She'll be training and working with you from now on. Good luck to the two new SOLDIERs." Right after that, he left. Lightning watched as the door was slammed shut. Genesis was the first one to come up to her. "Welcome to SOLDIER, Farron." He said as they both shook their hands. "You can call me Lightning if you want." She said. She had to admit it, she missed being called by her _name._"Alright, then Lightning it is." he replied as he let go of the handshake.

"Hey, I remember you." Lightning turned to the owner of the voice. He had a black spiky hair and a sword on his back. Wait, wasn't he the guy she just bumped into yesterday? Is it her or is it the people she bumps into would actually turn out to be her comrades or something like that? "I never knew you would become a SOLDIER!" He beamed.

"You know her, Zack?" said a blonde man who seems to be cleaning his sword. "Well, not really. We bumped into each other yesterday." The guy who appears to be Zack said as he scratched the back of his head. "How rude of me. I'm Zack fair. You're Lightning Farron, right?" She nodded. _Sheesh! She just acts like blondie. _Zack thought and turned to the _blondie _he was referring to in his mind. "And, oh, this is Cloud."

"Cloud Strife." He said as if he was correcting him.

"Yeah, whatever kid."

As Lightning was about to scan the room, her eyes narrowed at a boy with raven hair leaning against the wall. There was a strange aura around him that bugged her. "Light?" Lightning snapped out of her thoughts and looked at Genesis. "Hm?"

"You seem to be thinking of something else. Is everything okay?"

"I'm alright. Don't worry about me."

"Anyway!" Zack began to put his arms around Cloud's and Genesis's neck. "What about we go at 7th Heaven and celebrate for the newcomers?" Genesis shot him a death glare as Cloud gave Zack an annoyed look. Lightning just watched as the two struggled.

* * *

At training...

The training wasn't in an arena or anything that has a limited space. It was in a deserted area in the outskirts of the city which was many kilometers from civilization. The SOLDIERs have separate rides. Each had a vehicle with them. Lightning was forced to be on Cloud's Fenrir but she summoned her Eidolon, Odin, instead. Odin turned into a majestic horse and began to catch up with them. Amazingly, Odin was able to be ahead of the rest who were all riding in their vehicles. Talk about horsepower.

As they arrived at the training area, she got off Odin and began to scan around the place. It looked like a gloomy desert with nothing but cacti and sand. You might wanna include those ball like bushes that would roll over or whatever it is called. Lightning looked up to the sky and narrowed her eyes since the sun was shining brightly. The sky was clear blue.

Zack curiously went towards the horse Odin. "This is unbelievable. Does it talk?" When he was about to touch Odin's hair, it gave him a hard kick in the stomach and send him flying. Fortunately, he was only a few meters away when he landed on the ground. "He doesn't like to be touched by other people rather than me." She said.

"I guess he's dead." Genesis commented as he poked Zack with the random stick he just picked. Cloud just stared at the two. "Nah he'll wake up soon." Angeal said.

"So... I think we should train in pairs since Noctis and Lightning are new here." Genesis said while looking at Lightning and the raven haired man who appears to be Noctis. Angeal nodded in agreement.

"I'll partner up with Light!" Zack said as he got up from being unconscious. He looked at her with the cute puppy look. Lightning rolled her eyes. He really reminded her of a certain blonde guy named Snow only much worse. This was getting pretty annoying. She turned to him. "Alright."

"YAY!"

"But only if you keep your mouth shut." She said in warning tone and gave him a quick glare. He didn't seemed to mind the glare she had sent him. "Yay~" He whispered childishly. The group watched him as he swung his sword over his shoulder and took a pose with a grin on his face. _Oh man..._

"I'm gonna protect you, my dear Lightning." He said as if he was a hero and Lightning was the damsel in distress. Both Cloud and Angeal facepalmed. Lightning still kept that emotionless face on her. "I can handle things by myself actually." She said in a cold way. Zack's confidence was slightly fading when she said that since she sounded like she mean it. "Aww... You're ruining my act!" He pouted. She ignored him and turned to Angeal.

"So what's this monster that we're going to face?"

"Don't you know?" Zack suddenly had this aura that made everyone shiver even Noctis who had kept his mouth shut the whole time shivered slightly. "Wh-What?" Lightning asked.

"Of course it's no other than the CHOCOBO! OF DOOOOM!" He exclaimed with with his arms stretched in the air like an evil villain. A little touch of gloomy clouds and lightning as a backdrop would add a little more effect to this...idiocy. Lightning sweatdropped. _Errr...that sounded random. _Cloud and Angeal, once again, facepalmed.

Suddenly, the earth began to shake. The group managed to keep their balance. this wasn't a normal quake since it was slowly increasing. Lightning turned to see enormous chocobos heading towards them with a glint of insanity in their eyes. Zack wasn't kidding after all. There was no time to do nothing for who knows what will these insane chocobos would do to them when they caught sight of the group. Lightning smirked and got her gunblade ready. "Time to fry some chocobo"

They all charged to the target. Zack was the first to attack. Swiftly, he managed to cut and slice some chocobos who were attacking him. Cloud did the same thing only he managed to kill more than Zack did. With a jump in the air, he stabbed the chocobo who was heading towards them. Genesis killed one after the other also did Angeal. Lightning was the fastest of the group since she wighed more lighter than the others. She leaped into the air and began shooting them in the heads. When she landed landed safely on the ground right next to Angeal, he was impressed.

"The name's Angeal by the way."

She smirked. "Isn't this animal abuse?"

"They're insane and they'll cause trouble when they reach the city." He replied. A chocobo was heading towards them. They snapped out of their chat and began to attack it until it was down. With a snap of her fingers, a blue energy began to appear on her and she swiftly broke the law of gravity as she attack the chocobo on her right.

"Awesome move." Zack commented. She smirked and attacked the one that was once on her left. When she was about to attack another one - in air - that was in front of her until it ducked. Before she realized it, she was heading towards Noctis who seemed to be attacking the same target - who was attacking in air also.

In the blink of an eye, everyone's eyes widened in shock. "Oh. My. God." Zack said amused and shocked.

* * *

**CLIFFHANGERRR! :3**

(**Edit**)  
A/N: Alright, I made the Author's note pretty much shorter since it is kinda unfair that the A/N part would make the story/chapter a little longer. But that's just me. And I also know there are people who are bugged by long notes so I've decided to make them briefer and shorter. But anyway, thank you to those who reviewed!**  
**


	6. Meeting New Friends?

A/N: I know I added so much K-POP stuff in this fic. But hey, how could I resist? ^o^ Anyway! So sorry for the late update. I've been out of town for a few days and got more busier. BTW, I have only seen Advent Children and have not played FFVII. Sooo, I don't know really the places around the places in Gaia/Midgar/FFVII planet. Well I have only played Crisis Core for a while and I haven't finished with it...ever since my PSP upgraded to 6.37 when I played Dissidia 012. *facepalm*

* * *

**Chapter Six  
.Meeting New Friends?.**

* * *

Lightning opened her eyes. Her head was slightly aching from...wait, what did really happen? She scanned the room. Everything looked clean as if she was in a medical center since almost everything was pale white. She turned to her side and saw a sleeping raven haired man in the bed right beside hers. Now that she remembered, he was that guy who had the strange aura that bothered her back at SOLDIER. The gentle pain was still keeping her from remembering what happened before she was here. _What happened? _She asked herself and looked down on her clothes. She was still in her uniform with only few dirt.

A sound of an opening door was heard and it caught her attention. Angeal and the others were entering the room. Zack immediately went to her. "Boy! I'm glad to see you guys okay!" he beamed.

"What happened?" was all she could say. She tilted her head slightly to her left in confusion as she saw Zack looking away with a chuckle. Genesis just smiled amusingly , so did Angeal. "What?"

"You were knocked out unconscious when you bumped his head." Cloud explained, the only one who seemed to be not really amused. He pointed at the sleeping raven haired man. "And that was before you both kissed accidentally." Lightning didn't know what or how to react. Mixed emotions and feelings began to swirl and churn inside her. She didn't know whether she was mad, embarrassed or maybe both. "I don't know what to say." She said with a facepalm. The door opened and revealed a lady in white which appears to be a nurse. She looked like she was in her late twenties.

"Ms. Farron." She called out in a kind tone. "...telephone." She signaled.

_Serah!_ She quickly thought of her little sister. What happened to her during her absence in Cocoon? She immediately went got out to bed and followed the nurse. The thought of her old friends suddenly came up in mind. She smiled. She had to admit it, she missed all the idiocy of her friends would bring. She missed the laughter, the moments and the happiness especially beating up Snow - which she had done often whenever Serah's not around/looking.

"Geez! Is it her boyfriend or something?" Zack teased childishly also reacting to her sudden behavior as they hear the sound of the closing door. Then, they all turned to Noctis who was still sleeping peacefully. "Boy, he almost kissed a hot chick." Zack said and then turned to Cloud with a puzzled look. "Why did you say that they kissed?"

Cloud shrugged. "I just wanted to. Besides, she doesn't look surprised."  
"I bet she is but she's hiding it." They all nodded.

* * *

It was already getting dark. After her two hour conversation with her friends in Cocoon, she got another call from Tifa on her phone. She reminded her about moving in at her place.

Lightning went out of the clinic. She didn't bother to tell the others since maybe she would ruin their fun. She looked up to the gray sky and rain started to fall from the heavens. She missed the rain. It certainly brings back good memories...memories of her own family.

She paused as she remember their tragic death. A frown started to form on her. It had been years since they've died. It was terrible...awfully terrible. She shook it off and went home.

When she arrived, she immediately packed all of her things. While doing so, she thought of what is going to happen for the whole year. A lot has been happening. She left home, met a lot of people and now, she's a first class SOLDIER. Will everything be alright? She smiled. Maybe it would.

She put the last thing she had to pack on her suitcase and zipped it close. She took the suitcases and glanced the room before leaving. "So long, hard bed." She smirked and with that, she left.

* * *

At the train...

_Thirty minutes since I've left._ She thought as she glanced at her wristwatch. She was wearing her own casual clothes. A simple off-shoulder shirt and shorts is enough to keep away people's suspicion on her. This way, she'll be able to read her book peacefully.

She sat by the window. The rays of the afternoon sun glimmered on her, making her brighter. Her pink hair was set on the same side where she would always keep it in place. Her blue eyes were fixed on the words printed in the pages of the book. It was an old book which she treasured deeply. Her mother was an author and her books were amazing as she would say. The Farron family was once known for their amazing talents which were incredibly extraordinary. Her mother was gifted in literature and her books were always best-selling while her father was a prodigy in piano. He worked as a pianist and at the same time, a successful composer. Serah once dreamed of being a violinist and had the potential. However, ever since that day, her dreams of becoming one shattered. Lightning didn't really know why she quit the violin when she was really good at it. All she would say was "Maybe, I don't feel like it anymore" or "I got tired of it." Even though these were her answers, she knew that she wasn't really telling the truth.

Lightning inserted a bookmark on the very page where she once read and closed it. She took out a relaxed sigh as she looked at the window. The sun was almost setting, the sky was pinkish orange and the birds where flying high up in the skies probably going to their nests. She closed her eyes as she started to remember a fragment of her memory. She remembered holding her father's hand as they both watched the sun was setting right before them at a dock. Birds were flying around the pinkish orange sky freely. She remembered how happy she was and how he would tell her how a person succeed with their dreams by just believing that you can do it.

"_Fellow passengers, we have arrived our destination. Thank you for riding with us._"

Lightning snapped back to reality. She glanced at the window to see the station. She picked her bags and headed towards the exit.

As she step foot out of the train, she took a deep breath and began to observe the change of environment. Everything seemed peaceful. The feeling around was quite mixed and it was either sadness or joy. She saw people running towards their loved ones who had finally returned home or vice versa.

A little girl around the age of five ran right past her. Lightning watched her as a man around his seventies went up to her. He had a sad look on his face.

"Is papa alright? Is he here?" She could hear her say. All the man did was keeping himself quiet with the gloomy look on his face. The little girl's smile faded as she keep asking him the same question and finally she was almost going to cry. Lightning's heart was about to tear apart as she remembered the exact thing that had happened to her years ago. The man finally spoke with a sad tone. "I'm sorry."

"Lightning!" A voice called. Lightning sapped out of the scene and turned to her right since it was where the voice came from. She spotted Tifa along with two children - a boy and a girl. The three went to her. "Had fun?"

"Not really." She replied then looked at the two kids. The girl shyly hid herself behind Tifa while the boy just stood right beside her. "Oh, this is Denzel and Marlene." Tifa looked down at the kids. "Kids, this is Lightning."

"Hello, Lightning." Denzel greeted. Marlene waved shyly. Lightning just gave them a slight nod then gave them a small smile. She looked over Tifa's shoulder as she spotted a blonde spiky haired man. "Cloud?" She said. "What's he doing here?" Tifa turned to the blonde. "Do you two know each other?" She asked while looking at both people. "She's a SOLDIER, Tifa." Cloud answered. Tifa was shocked. "A-A SOILDIER? For real?" She exclaimed and turned to Lightning. "How come you didn't tell me?"

"My way of surprising people." She muttered amusingly. And turned to the two with a grin. "Is Cloud your boyfriend?" Tifa shook her head. "No, he's just a friend." Lightning saw Cloud looking sad at her words. She grew a little curious about his reaction but she snapped out of it as Tifa said "Let's go."

Cloud and Tifa helped her carry her bags but Lightning carried most of it though. "What's in this bag?" Tifa asked after she had opened the door to the bar (A/N: Or whatever it is xD). Denzel and Marlene went inside as they played tag with each other.

"My weapons. Be careful with that bag." She said as she confidently passed by a shocked Tifa. "Your room's this way." Cloud said as he climbed the staircase as he was followed by Tifa who quickly snapped out of her shock. Lightning followed the two. "So, what do you do in SOLDIER? What rank are you in?" She asked as they reached the end of the stairs.

"First class. Just like Cloud." She replied. They walked to the hallway. The rays of the setting sun shone from the window which was at the end of the small hallway. Tifa unlocked a door to her left which seemed to be Lightning's room and opened it. The room wasn't too small and it wasn't too big either. The light from the sun came through the window. She had to admit, it gave a home-sweet-hom feel. The three put her stuff beside the bed and left. Before Tifa could close the door. "Oh right, dinner is within twenty minutes. I think you should change while you're at it." She said and with that she closed the door. Lightning sat at the bed and lay down. It was so comfy unlike the hard bed in her previous apartment. It gave her a nostalgic feel of her own bedroom. Everything was so quiet and she could feel the tranquility the way she liked it after a day of hard and stressful work.

She stood up and went to put everything in place. She put her clothes in her closet and her suitcase of weapons underneath the bed which was the only place to hide them. She put her purse on the vanity which was a few feet away from her bed. She looked at the clock. _Eight minutes before dinner. _She thought and walked to her closet and opened it. The closet revealed all of her newly kept clothes. She picked a simple T-shirt with a picture of Happy from Fairy Tail at the front and shorts that was similar to what she was wearing before. Right after that, she put her hair in a sided low ponytail.

"Lightning! Dinner time!" Tifa yelled from the kitchen.

* * *

As Lightning arrived downstairs, she saw a few people. Of course, all of them were unfamiliar to her except Tifa, Cloud and the kids. Denzel and Marlene went around playing while the two talked to their visitors.

"Lightning!" Tifa exclaimed as he noticed her. She went to her and grabbed her hand. "We have some visitors. I forgot to tell you about it. So sorry." She continued and dragged her. "Let's go." She took her to a young girl and a blonde man who looked grumpy.

"Lightning, this is Cid Highwind and Yuffie Kisaragi." She introduced. "Guys, this is Lightning."

"Ooooh!" Yuffie suddenly clasped her hands around hers. "I've heard a lot about you! You're sooo coool!"

"N-Nice to meet you?" Lightning raised an eyebrow. Suddenly, a cat riding on a big moogle separated Yuffie from her. The cat looked at her weirdly. Lightning felt like sweatdropping as he got closer and closer to her. "So you're Lightning, huh? You're really pretty!" the feline said as Tifa pulled him from getting to her closer. "You're making her think you're weird, Cait." She said. "Oh, this is Cait Sith. Don't really mind him." She continued. Lightning stared weirdly at the talking cat. Those kinds of cats don't exist back in Cocoon. As Lightning was about to turn away, she bumped into a guy in red cape with long hair.

"Sorry." She said. The man was about six feet tall and his face was almost covered by his hair and red scarf. Tifa went to him. "Lightning, this is Vincent Valentine."

"So you're Lightning that Tifa had talked about." Lightning just nodded, her face barely showed any emotion. "You sure remind me a lot of Cloud." He muttered before walking away. Out of the blue, she felt an arm around her neck and she was pulled close by a person. "HEY Light!" Zack exclaimed happily. She looked up to him and gave him a glare. A small yet deadly glare. He quickly let go of her. "M-Man, your glare is even more scary than Cloud's." Cloud glared at his cheery black haired friend.

"I heard that." Now, two people were glaring at him. "B-But I think hers is still more scarier." Zack said looking at the two.

"Dinner time~" A brown haired woman with her hair in a long braid sang. The next thing Lightning knew, people were running to the dinner table. She calmly followed them and sat next to the brown haired woman. She warmly smiled at Lightning. "I'm Aerith." She said. "You're Lightning, right?" She nodded as she sat down. "Well, I hope you enjoy the food."

"LET'S DIG IN!" Zack childishly exclaimed as he ate. "Thish ishhh shooooo good!" His mouth was stuffed with food as he spoke. Cloud rolled his eyes at him. "You know, you would choke if you stuff all the food in your mouth..." Not long before Cloud could finish his sentence, Zack began to cough from too much food in his mouth. "...again." He finished. Aerith looked at Zack with worry. "Zack, take it easy." Tifa stood up and went behind his back. "Here goes nothing... HIYA!" She punched his back forcefully and sent the choked food on the floor.

"EEEWWWW." Denzel and Marlene said in unison. Lightning stared at Zack with disgust and tried not to look at the choked food lying on the floor. She went back to her eating, avoiding the food on the floor to ruin her appetite. Everyone's attention were now back on the meal from Zack's choking incident. Cid started to talk about how he was been. Yuffie told them that the war in Wutai ended peacefully and how happy she was with it. It wasn't long before they started to ask questions to Lightning. Aerith was the first one to ask. "So Lightning, tell us more about yourself." She started.

"Guardian Corps Sergeant, lives in Cocoon, nothing more." She replied as she finished her meal. "Aww... tell us more than that." Zack pleaded.

"That's none of your business." With that, she gave Zack the none-of-your-concern look.

"Why's that?" Cloud asked. She glared at him. _What part of "that's none of your business" don't they-_

"GUYS!" Cait Sith yelled as he entered the dining room. All eyes fell to the cat riding on the big moogle. Lightning could sense panic in his voice. "What's wrong, Cait?" Cloud asked, standing from his chair.

"Three guys in, in, in black! W-W-With white hair!" The cat said and pointed to the door which he was referring to outside. Screams of people were heard from outside and the group quickly grabbed their weapons. Her gunblade was still in her bedroom. She quickly went upstairs.

"Where you're going?"

"Out to get something. You guys go ahead." She said, running her way up to her room. She opened the door and grabbed the suitcase underneath her bed. She entered the code and it quickly opened and the suitcase spread out revealing all her weapons. It may not look like it, the suitcase contained twenty weapons. Gunblades, swords, guns, bazookas and more. She took Blazefire Saber and shut it close.

Meanwhile, as the group went outside, they saw three men in black with silver hair bringing chaos to the town. What was really odd was that they were riding on chocobos with red eyes. Although they really look very evil, the chocobos were too cute.

"Aww~"

"KWEEEH!" The chocobo screeched loudly. People were covering their ears from the terrifying sound. Helpless people were on their knees with their hands on their ears. Who knows when this will end.

As the screech had ceased, the three men got off the three yellow birds. The one in the middle looked like their leader since he looked more into this than the rest of them. Cloud held his sword in the position that meant he was ready. "Do you think this will lead us to Mother?" The guy with shorter hair said as he was heading towards a little boy in a corner near him. "To get to her, we got to get _that_ materia first." The long haired man said.

"Let's say we got to ask a few people around..." He replied, preparing his fists as if he was ready to fight someone.

"Hey you!" Zack called. The two looked at him. Their faces showed no emotion. The long haired man and the leader went to him. "Well, well, well, if it isn't another brat. I believe you couldn't even last in the start of a fight."

"Heh." Zack smirked. "Well, let's try and see what I can do." Cloud went beside his friend as if he was part of this. "You wouldn't last long without me." He teased. "I can do this by myself."

Suddenly, clones began to surround the group. They were clones of the three enemies. "Well?" Cloud smirked as Zack pouted. "Let's go!"

The group charged. Zack attacked the clone at his left. The clone dodged and tried to attack him. He blocked the attack and successfully stabbed him and it turned to dust. Four clones were surrounding Cloud. He stood still and waited for their attacks. As soon as the four charged at him, he leaped in the air as he dodged them and sliced them one by one. Cid had no weapons with him and two clones were walking towards him. The only thing he had with him was...

"A frying pan? Since when did this get here?" He said, raising an eyebrow. The clone of the long haired man started to shoot him with several bullets. Cid quickly blocked the attacks with the frying pan. The two leaped towards him. Cid quickly hit them in the head with his frying pan.

Bam! Bam! BOOM! as it went and finally they punneled into dust...literally since once they were K., they turn to dust. "Ha! Ha!" He exclaimed in victory and began hitting one clone and the other until they turned to dust. "Woo! Nice going, Cid!" Yuffie happily yelled as she was through with the clones she just defeated. Tifa was with Aerith and she had to protect her since she doesn't know how to fight. Tifa punched and kicked the enemies that headed towards them as Aerith's eyes were focused on the young boy who looked like he was in the age of fourteen. He was glaring at the man before him while he keep on punching and kicking the boy.

Aerith clenched her fists. She couldn't stand seeing a helpless kid get hurt. She quickly ran towards the short silver haired man who was holding the lad's collar to hit him with a final blow on the face

"Aerith!"

"Leave him alone!" She yelled. The man turned to him. Aerith glared at him but a glare wasn't enough to make him leave. He just stood there as the blood was dripping from the wounds. An icy silence was between them. Only the sounds of the fight was heard. The man dropped lad on the ground with a thud. "Looks like Miss Goody-Two-Shoes wants to fight, eh?" He said with an evil grin forming on his face as he started to walk towards Aerith. She closed her eyes and waited for him to hit her.

BOOM!

An explosion between them stopped the man from harming her. Aerith widened her eyes in surprise and went to look at a window in 7th Heaven since it came from there. It was Lightning with a bazooka. She put it down and jumped from the window and landed on the ground safely. "Lightning!"

"What took you so long?" Cloud said as he stabbed the leader's clone. "Quit the talk. We have work to do." She said pointing her gun at the man who tried to harm Aerith. He held his right arm, injured from the explosion. After he glared, his eyes widened in the sight of her.

"Hey Kadaj! Isn't she the one who hit you in the head?"

The leader's eyes, who seemed to be Kadaj, were now fixed on her. "YOU!" He pointed furiously. Lightning shrugged. "Thought I'd ever see you again." She said calmly as if it was nothing. He prepared his double bladed katana, ready to fight her.

"Wait! You two know each other?"

"Not really. It was some mission that sent me here to SOLDIER." She said, putting her gunblade over her shoulder. The clones started to disappear which put an end to the group's fight. Kadaj charged towards her and attacked. Lightning calmly dodged his attacks but as soon as she almost got hit, she grew a little serious and shoot him. Kadaj easily dodged the bullets that was targeting him and he disappeared suddenly. She looked up and then to her left and right. When she turned around, she saw his blade near Aerith's neck. "Get off me!"

"Come closer and she dies." Kadaj said with an evil smirk. She lowered her gunblade. She picked a rock and started to throw it in the air and it landed on her hand. Throw, land on her hand, and over and over and she throwed it towards him like a baseball player. Kadaj snorted. " Do you think a rock is good enough to kill me?" He blocked the rock and Lightning quickly charged at him. "Firaga!" She yelled as balls of fire went to him. Kadaj dodged the fire making him let go of Aerith.

Lightning smirked. She leaped in the air and put her gunblade to blade mode. When she was about to strike him with her blades, the long haired man aimed his gun right at her. Cloud caught sight of his actions and when he was about to shoot, he pushed him which sent the bullets to shoot in a different direction which was the director's car.

The car let out noises. Kadaj dodged her attack and kicked her. "Tch."

She landed on the ground safey. Zack went towards her. "You alright?" She didn't reply. She watched as the three rode on their chocobos. Kadaj gave Lightning one last glare. "I swear! We'll finish this!" He yelled. With that, they disappeared as the chocobos turned into ferocious birds with dark feathers and long beak and swiftly flew away leaving no trace of feathers behind.

The others went to the three SOLDIERs. Zack ran to Aerith who had been almost threatened twice. "Aerith, are you ok?" He asked in worry. The brown haired woman just nodded.

"So, they weren't chocobos after all." Yuffie said, looking up to the sky when they vanished. Lightning stood up and went towards the young boy who had been beaten up earlier. The group watched her. The boy stared at her as she placed her hands on her hips and she wasn't happy. "Hope, what on earth are you doing here?" Her tone sounded a little angry.

"You know him?" Tifa asked but didn't get a reply. She was too mad to reply to anyone at the moment. The boy, who seemed to be called Hope, just gave Lightning a stare. "I... I want to find my dad." He hesitantly said. A brief moment of silence came afterward. Lightning and Hope had a staring contest.

"Fine." She said. "Just don't do anything reckless." She went to kid and ruffled his hair. She smirked. "Where are you staying?"

"I just arrived this morning." He said.

"Tifa?" Lightning called and turned to her. She hoped that she still has a spare room in 7th Heaven. Tifa looked at her, knowing what she meant. "There's a vacant room next to Marlene's. He could use it." She said. Lightning turned back to Hope.

"Looks like I have to babysit you again." She teased. Hope pouted. "I'm not a baby!" He said. Lightning stood up straightly as she smirked. "Then get your things." Hope, still pouting, carried his bag.

"Hey!''

The group turned to a man who turns out to be the director. He walked over to hid car with his face unhappy. "Who did this to my car?"


	7. Odd

A/N: Omo! It's been a long time since I've updated. Sorry 'bout that. I've been busy with my studies and I barely had the time to write this chapter. This will be a short chapter. Hopefully, I'll be able to update the next chapter a few days from now. Anyway, thanks for those who reviewed and faved~

All reviews are appreciated.

h t t p : / / w w w . yo u t u b e . com /watch?v=VxxUZF6wLXg :3

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**Chapter Seven  
.Odd.**

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It was already 11:30 A.M., the rest of the first class SOLDIERs had already left for the cafeteria. Lightnng was the only one left in the room, still cleaning her trusty gunblade. Cleaning her weapons after using was a habit already. After a good fight, blood would remain on the blades of the weapon and since she didn't want Serah see blood, she would clean it after a stressful day of work.

"Lightning," Cloud called as he entered the room. "Phone call." She put her gunblade down and went with Cloud as he lead her to the phone. She grew curious about him as she remembered his expression back in the train station. But anyway, he is one mysterious -not to mention strange- guy.

He held her the phone that Marlene and Denzel put on his bag and they know for sure that Tifa's not going to like it. Cloud walked away so she could have her privacy. "Hello?"

"Farron, this is Raines." The caller said. What could he be calling for? "Apparently, there ae some things I want you to investigate. One, the current president of Shinra kinda bothers me. It looks like he's up to no good." Now that he mentioned about Rufus, he really did have a strange aura around him. He may look nice and gentleman-like and all but looks can be deceiving at times. Heh. Like she would fall for that anyway. She's not the type who could trust a person so easily and she already had the feeling that Rufus was bad news.

An I-knew-it-from-the-start voice start to yell in her head. Before she could talk to Rufus, she covered the phone as a group of SOLDIERs pass by her. "Yo, Lightning!" one of them called. Lightning just looked at him. "Aren't ya going to lunch?"

"Maybe later."

"Okay and don't blame me if you pass out." She rolled her eyes as she watched the group disappear from her sight. She heard another chuckle on the line. She could tell that Cid was obviously amused. "I didn't know you could make friends so easily." He teased.

"They're not my friends." She replied. "They're just my comrades."

"Oh, is that so?" She rolled her eyes. "Anyway, let's set that aside. There's another thing I want to talk to you about. A massacre at a SOLDIER base was reported. A survivor said that it was Sephiroth's doing." Lightning's eyes widened at the last statement. _So, he's alive. _She thought. Her heart started beating fast. Quick flashes of images which were too vague for her to recognize began playing in her mind. Her mind started to hurt as the beat of her heart sped up. She couldn't understand what she was feeling. Mixed emotions were accompanying the pain. She couldn't tell what it was but she was sure she felt nervousness.

It was only a few seconds when she felt the strange phenomena which seemed to last for minutes. It suddenly faded when Cid resumed to his last minute conversation. Once they were done, she hung up and put the phone back to the bag. She bit her lip. _What was that? _She asked herself. It was strange...really strange. She started to feel nervous at the thought of Sephiroth again. Why was she feeling like this?

"Lightni-?"

Swiftly, Lightning slapped the person behind her due to the nervousness she was feeling. The person happened to have brought coffee with him and tripped backwards, causing the coffee fall on him. What was worse is that the coffee was freshly brewed and hot. **Very hot**.

She quickly snapped herself back to reality and look at the person. It was Cloud and he brought a coffee with him which was now spilled on him. She immediately went towards him to help him up. "I'm so sorry!" She exclaimed as she pulled him up. As everybody would say, Cloud was extremey quiet and serious. What they didn't know was that he is allergic to coffee. _It was just an accident, Cloud. An accident. _He thought as he tried to calm himself down. He wouldn't want to hit a newcomer especially when it's a woman. After all, it was just an accident.

As he was about to get up, with the help of Lightning, he stepped on the puddle of spilled coffee. He landed right on top of her. Could this get any worse?

After realizing the position they were in, her eyes widened in shock. Cloud blushed furiously. His face was only a few inches from hers. She could feel his warmth of his breath which made her go slight pink. He was dangerously too close. She could feel the beat of her heart go thumping again.

Cloud shared the same feeling and that was not it. The look in her eyes was something else. Cloud saw something that was...uncanny to him.

"Aigoo~" A voice sang. The two turned and saw Zack with a huge grin across his face.

Cloud and Lightning quickly stood up and Lightning looked away as she stand up. "I-It's not what you think!" They both yelled in unison which made his grin even wider and more childish. Zack gave them the ooooh-rigght~ look.

"Ohh really?" He said as he turned away with the childish grin still on his face. "So, it wasn't an accident after all." _Wait, so he saw what happened!_

Cloud's eyes flashed in annoyance. Lightning couldn't help but feel like pounding him into bits. "You're so lucky~ shorty~" He skipped happily the way to the office door to escape from the "couple." Cloud was about to punch him in the face but she held his arms and tried to stop him. "WHO YA CALLING SHORTY?"

"Calm down!" She tried to calm him down as he struggled to break free from her . Her grip tightened to keep him still as he tried. Zack should thank her for holding Cloud down. Unless...

"Yohoo~" Zack called which made them both pause for a while. He opened his phone and showed them a picture of the very position they were once in. Anger suddenly took over and they both launch themselves on Zack. "GET HIM!"

Lightning tried to snatch the phone but unfortunately he was too tall she could barely reached it. Plus, he keeps it away from her. "ZACK! Give me the phone!" Cloud gave him a glare as he almost got the phone. He just stuck out his tongue. "Naaahh! It's a souvenir~"

Out of the blue, the phone he was confidently protecting from the two SOLDIERs was now quickly snatched from his hands. It wasn't Cloud nor was it Lightning but the one and only Noctis. He flipped the phone open and smiled at the picture. "Well, well, this is quite something." He commented, obviously amused. He pressed a few buttons and hand the phone back to Zack. The two paused for a moment as Zack opened his phone. "Photo deleted." Noctis said amusingly.

Lightning felt relieved. Wasn't he the guy whom Cloud said that she accidentally "_kissed_?"

"Aww! You can't be serious, Noct!" Zack pouted as he began to scan through his gallery to check if it was still there. Fortunately, it was deleted. The dark haired man just smiled and shrugged. "It's for what you did to me years ago." Cloud's eyes widened. "Wait, you two knew each other?"

"I moved into Noctis's city when I was a kid. We met in the same school we were studying at, right princey prince?" He said, looking at him. Noctis just rolled his eyes.

"_First class SOLDIERs: Fair, Farron, Strife and Caelum. Please proceed to the director's office._" An announcement said. The voice echoed through out the hallway. The four stared at each other, wondering what they were called for. "Oh man." Zack said, remembering the event that had happened last night. Both Lightning and Cloud had the same thought. Is he going to punish them? Well, who knows.

"Do you think this is about last night?" He asked.

"I don't know... We did explain everything to him." Cloud replied as he shrugged before they started walking. "If Noctis is being called, then it isn't about his car." Lightning nodded in agreement which was true since Noctis was not part what happened although she got a feeling that it will be about the three men they had encountered last night.

"What happened?" Noctis asked, the only one who knew nothing about last night. Everybody turned their attention to him before responding. "Long story made short, a couple of guys came out of nowhere and attacked us. Unfortunately, they ended up shooting the director's car." Zack said.

As they arrived at the doorsteps of the director's office, Zack knocked on the door. They've waited unti a faint "Come in" was heard from behind the door they were facing at. He opened it and saw the director busy with his paperworks... as usual. The director looked up from his papers and set them aside for a moment. "Reporting for duty, sir." Cloud said. Surprisingly, the director didn't gave them any signs of anger on his face. He pushed a small button underneath his desk. A long, narrow opening began to appear from the ceiling and a thin, black and expensive looking flat screen TV came down from it. The TV was now right beside his desk.

He pushed another button and the TV was turned on. "Let me show you something." He said as he pressed another button underneath the desk. The screen showed the exact scene of what happened last night. It happened to be a clip from one of the hidden cameras from a store that happened to be nearby the place they were fighting. The screen showed the end of the battle where the long silver haired man shoot the director's car which let out noises. The clip ended when the three escaped and flew into the dark sky then the TV was turned off.

The director faced them with a serious look. "Those guys who threatened my beloved car were the remnants: Yazoo, Loz and Kadaj." He said as he adjusted his glasses. "It also seems like their planning to wake Sephiroth."

"Sephiroth..." She muttered. Now, why does the name always ring a bell? It wasn't the first time she ever heard about him. In fact, she heard the name from rumours to facts. But there was something deep inside her as if she really knew Sephiroth in person.

Suddenly, her head began to ache again. Flashes of images appeared in her head. All of them were too vague and fast for her to recognize. It was happening once again.

_Again? _

For a few seconds, she suffered the pain but it suddenly stopped. "Are you okay?" Lightning turned to Noctis who had a concerned look on his face. "Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about him." She said in a low voice.

Cloud, who was right beside her, had his eyes on her. He was a little concerned since he knew something was up with her since she a while ago. "Do you want us to investigate?" Faceing to the director, he said.

"Yes." Adjusting his glasses, he began to look into some files. He pulled out a brown envelope which contained three folders. He pulled out the folders and began to scan through the pages. "But before that, I want you to find Sephiroth's body which is said to be located in a crystal cave in a forest right in the outskirts of Midgar..." He said as his voice trailed off as he continued to read. Lightning looked at him with confusion. Wasn't a SOLDIER base massacred recently? If that was true, then what does he mean by "planning to wake Sephiroth" or the whereabouts his body?

She decided to keep quiet and listen to the information he was telling them which was a good idea. "Also... a SOLDIER base massacre has been reported this early morning." _I knew it. _Cloud and the others, with the exception of Lightning who managed to maintain her _coolness_, looked at the director with shocked expressions on their faces. "Wh-What?" Zack exclaimed. The director nodded. "Yep. Strangely, he used his right hand instead of the left. I want you guys to find his body and study him."

Lightning turned to Zack, who had been oddly silent in the whole Sephiroth discussion. Unusually, his face seemed serious and at the same time there was a glint of sadness in his eyes. This was quite surprising for Lightning since Zack was the loudest of them all.

The director neatly piled the documents back into the folders and placed them inside the brown envelope. "The forest is very dangerous since it's full of traps, I'll let you use materia this time." The director said as he smiled at them. Zack beamed suddenly. "You may go now."

The four stood up and headed for the door. The director watched them leave the room. When the door was shut close, he stood up from his chair and massaged his head. _Ow..._ He took his phone and dialed. It did not take long for the reciever to pick up.

"_Hello?_" The reciever said in a low voice.

"Hey, cous. Could you come here?"

* * *

"Uwaah~ I can't wait to use them!" Zack exclaimed as they walked on their way to the office. Cloud rolled his eyes in annoyance as the two new SOLDIERs looked at their fellow comrade with puzzled looks on their faces. Noctis slightly tilted his head in confusion. "Materia?" He asked. "What's that?"

Zack just gave him a smile. "You'll see." Lightning raised a brow as she stared at him confusingly.

As they arrived the first class SOLDIER office, Angeal greeted them and stood from his seat. "Heard that the director allowed you to use materia." He said as Zack nodded. Genesis walked to the table with a suitcase in hand. He placed it on the table and started to press the correct key code to the case. The suitcase beeped thrice and revealed numerous colorful, glowing balls. When Zack was about to happily grab one, Cloud slapped his hand from doing so. "Ouch."

"So, those are materia?" Lightning said, pointing at them. It look kinda...cute. "What do they do, actually?"

"Let's say they're like balls of magic." Angeal took a green materia and put it on his wrist. The materia went _into _his wrist...literally. This part on his wrist where the materia was once placed glowed in a greenish color. The two new SOLDIERs awed at the sight although they didn't show how amazed they were. Angeal smirked. "You put them into your wrists and you can do different spells" A ball of water appeared on his hand. "Awesome, huh?" Zack said.

Suddenly, Angeal threw the water ball towards Zack. Zack, noticing the sudden attack by Angeal, ducked as the ball of water pass right above him.

"Mr. Angeal, I-" Without saying furthermore, a female employee entered the room and was hit by the ball of water. "O...kay." Zack muttered oddly. "Anyway," Angeal said "I guess you'll know what to do." Lightning took one and examined it curiously.

The door opened and revealed the director and with him was a suspicious looking man who looked like in his early thirties. He wore a black coat, sunglasses and a toothpick on his mouth. The director nodded at the man. "Sorry to interrupt you in your meeting, but I would like you to meet Lee Ban."

"Good afternoon Mist-" As Genesis was about to finish his sentence, Ban raised his hand, a sign for him to stop talking. He faced him. "Call me..." He paused and looked at him in the eye as he took off his glasses in a dramatic manner. "Ban." One thing that Genesis could describe the man infront of him:** weird**. "Err... Good afternoon Ban."

The director sweatdropped at the sight of the very awkward meeting between the SOLDIERs and his cousin. He decided to break the tension by clearing his throat to speak. "Everyon, Ban will be your director from now on." He said casually. He, as expected, earned stares from everyone in the room - excluding him and Ban, of course. "Wh-What?" Zack said, not really believing what the diretor had said. "Don't tell me you're going to retire?"

The director adjusted his glasses and faced the window. "Let's say that the time has come for me to leave this place." The atmosphere grew more silent as a wind blew the curtains which caused it to make way for the sunlight shine on him. "It's my time..." He continued. He furrowed his brows and narrowed his eyes.

"Angeal, could you please turn off the electric fan? I'm almost blinded by the sunlight." Annoyingly, he turned to the man who obediently obeyed. Angeal went to the device and turned it off. Hearing him say "thank you", he went back to sitting on the couch. The director cleared his throat again and faced the SOLDIERs. There was a dramatic silence between them now.

...

"I'm taking a VACATION~!" He sang which made everyone look at him in surprise, excluding Ban who seemed to keep his _cool_ aura and Lightning and Noctis who barely knew the director, and their eyes wide open.

"I'll see you next month, SOLDIERs!" He happily waved goodbye and left the room with the injured female employee who was mercilessly handed with a pile of paper works.

* * *

_Somewhere in a forest...(1:00 P.M)_

"Zack," Lightning said as they walked down by a nearby river. "We've been walking for so long. Are we lost?" She paused as she placed her hand on her hip and did not look pleased. Seriously, she was mad. Zack paused and turned to the trio behind him who had been following him for the who knows how long. He scratched his head and smiled innocently. She has got to admit, walking in circles was completely wearing her outw which is not good. Who knows what kind of creatures were lurking in the area and were ready to jump on them any minute now. "Hmm..." He muttered. "I think we are."

That's it. He's officially worse than that blonde guy. "Ya think?"

"Sorry." He laughed sheepishly. Great, just great. Lightning rolled her eyes. Why does these things always happen? When Lightning turned around, she saw a path right ahead of them. A two-way path to be exact. It also seemed like they've come across this since it was familiar.

"We've been to the left, this time we should try out for the right." She said, remembering which direction they went. Cloud walked towards her and shook his head. "No, I don't think so." He spoke up. "I've got a bad feeling about that path. Let's try again on the left." He got a point there. But then again, they shouldn't be wasting time again.

"What if we run in circles again? We won't make it to Septhiroth." She said, her eyes sent deadly glares to him. Cloud, in return, glared back. "But what if we get killed on the way? We'll **never** make itthere." Then, the battle of glares was on.

"Right."  
"Left."  
"RIGHT!"  
"LEFT!"

The two SOLDIERs watched their comrades argue. Zack never knew that his blonde friend could be so short tempered...also in height compared to the female SOLDIER. Also it wasn't something so couldn't help but laugh at the thought. Noctis looked at him in surpriese by his sudden laughter.

"What?" The two glared. Zack paused but still smiling. "I didn't know Light is taller than you by two two inches." He chuckled. Lightning smirked and amusingly crossed her arms. Cloud glared at Zack. That was pretty much randm but she couldn't help but feel flattered.

A rustle of leaves was suddenly heard. The four of them steadied for action. "What was that?" The sound of the rustling leaves ceased for a moment, leaving only the sounds of birds flying from their nests. Then, there it is again. The rustling sound was heard once again and it sounded like it came form the bushes behind them. Lightning readied her gunblade Cloud and the others did the same with their weapons. The rustling became more intense and, whoever it was, is getting closer and closer.

_Rustle, rustle._

Then a cute, little white rabbit came out from the bushes. Zack blinked twice. "Phew."

"HA!" Suddenly a group of inruders leaped from the bushes. _Tch, I almost let my guard down. _She dodged the attack and fired bullets at the intruder in front of her at a very fast speed. The inturder turned to dust just like the clone from last night. It took not long enough for her to realize that it was a clone. She glanced at the clones. They were all clones of a muscular silver long haired man in black. "They're Sephiroth clones!" Zack exclaimed. Hearing the name, she remembered the fact that Sephiroth was left-handed. However, these Sephiroths were right-handed. And then it hit her, the Sephiroth who massacred the SOLDIER base was a clone.

Zack stabbed the enemy one after the other as they all turned to dust and often used his materia to cure some of the cuts he started to slice and killed numerous clones.

Two clones were heading towards Noctis who just stood there calmly. "Is he insane?" Zack muttered. Out of the blue, guns and swords started to appear, surrounding him. They started to circle in the air alog with some blue tiny orbs, slightly making it radiant. When the clones were close enough, he took out a sword from one of the spinning weapons.

SLASH!

The clones were sliced in half and eventually turned to dust. The sword disappeared from his hands along with the other weapons that were once surrounding him. Noctis sighed in relief. _Well, that's the last of it. _He thoughtand turned to his fellow comrades.

"..."

Zack's jaw dropped in amazement. "What?" Noctis said, slightly feeling awkward by their gazes on him. "That was so awesome!" Zack beamed. The way Noctis fought amazed them, especially Lightning who widened her eyes. Although she may not show it, she was incredibly amazed.

"U-Um...stop staring at me like that, you guys." He humbly said. "A-Anyway, were those clones?"

"Yep, Sephiroth clones to be exact." Cloud answered, recovering from shock. "We'll we better be going." Noctis said. And then, Cloud and Lightning faced each other.

"Right."  
"Left."

Noctis felt himself facepalming while Zack snickered.


	8. Booby Traps are Not Cool

zA/N: Woah! How long has it been? Sorry for the very late update. I got writer's block this time. Can't think of any fresh ideas for this chapter. So, because of that, please forgive me for any random parts in here. Plus, the drop down menus in Firefox won't work. Anyway! Belated HAPPY NEW YEAR! HAHA

Thanks so much for the reviews! I'm so happy! XD

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**Chapter Eight  
.Booby Traps are Not Cool.**

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Thirty minutes had past sine they decided which path to go. In the end, it all went Lightning's way. How, you ask? Well, they had a few more arguments for ten minutes –and another glare challenge between the two which lasted for another whole ten minutes. Annoyed, she stormed off to the right path. And of course, Zack and Noctis –and also Cloud- had to follow her because they were afraid of what might happen to the female SOLDIER.

At the moment, they are crossing on a hanging bridge. It was not just any awfully constructed bridged created years ago; it was DESPICABLY and HORRIBLY made. Every time it swings side to side, it feels like it's about to fall apart any minute. The wooden planks, that are supposed to be the things you need to step on, had many missing parts. The rope looked like it's going to snap any minute. Oh, the worst things that happen in a SOLDIER's life just got even worse. Zack looked down. It didn't took him long enough to realize that they were so high up. He could see a thick wavy line of blue which seemed to be a river. But with this high up, you could never survive a fall even with water present down below.

"Eessh... I feel like I'm about to fall any minute now." He said as he carefully walked. Each step they took had a creaking sound. Slowly but surely, they were now in the middle of their way to safe land.

Suddenly, a shrill sound of a bird echoed throughout the forest. A large black bird, similar to the one last night, flew its way across the sky. It swooped down and flew pass the bridge. The flapping of its big wings had caused the bridge to sway sideways in a dangerous way. The four took hold of the ropes to avoid themselves from falling off. The next thing that happened was something that they didn't want to happen.

_SNAP! _The bridge was falling apart. The rope from their starting point had broke. "Uh oh. Not good."

"RUN!"

They started running fast towards the other side as they could and at the same time, trying to avoid the missing planks. Cloud and Noctis were the first to step on the edge of the cliff. Zack was next. Before Lightning could finally reach them, her foot was caught by one of the ropes. Instantaneously, she grabbed a hold of the rope that was securely tied to a wooden pole on land. _Or so..._

"Lightning!"

The rope started to break strand by strand. Not only that, gravity was ready to pull her down too. "Grab my hand!" Zack said as he stretched out his hand to her. _Snap._ "Light!" She tried to grab his hand. But then, another strand had snapped, slowly making it harder to reach his hands. With more effort, she tried to reach for his outstretched hand.

_SNAP!_

"LIGHTNING!"

The bridge fell down rapidly until a faint _splash! _could be heard. One by one, each part of the bridge fell to the river below and got carried away by the current. There was an air of silence between the two SOLDIERs. It was solemn. Nobody spoke a word. Zack opened his eyes. It was like he couldn't breathe because of this scenario.

Lightning was dangling in the air, hands holding Zack's. Like Zack, it was like she couldn't breathe as well since she had a fifty-fifty chance of surviving. He decided to let out a little laugh to break the tense atmosphere. "You okay?" He asked.

"Ya think?" She spat. Chuckling, he pulled her up and helped her get to safe land. She looked at him as she sat safely. His expression was mixed. It was puzzling. She couldn't describe whether it was joy or sadness... or something else. It was strange.

She turned to the other two SOLDIERs who were walking towards to the two. "Are you guys okay?" She nodded. "Yeah. Quite an experience, I guess." Zack said as he scratched behind his head before smiling sheepishly. "Just...don't do that, okay~?"

"My feet was caught!" She replied. The two laughed. "Well, if everyone's fine, then it's alright." Noctis said. "We got work to do, remember?" Zack stood up straightly and started to do several squats. "Of course, I remember. I'm ready for some action!"

Before the group could go, there was another two-way path. They paused.

...

"Right."  
"Left."

And so the battle begins...again.

* * *

"OH NO! SOMEONE GOT MY MONEY!" A troubled woman in her thirties said as tears streamed in a dramatic way. "MA! SOMEONE STOLE MY DOLLIES!" A girl screamed as she ran her way to her mother."

"HUN! SOMEONE STOLE MY WIG! I'M NOW BALD FOR LIFE!" A man came running. He showed his bald head and suddenly it shone in its shininess. "ARRGGHH!"

"Who could have steal our beloved STUFF?"

"_Fear no more, dear citizens!_"

"Who's that?" The woman asked, shocked at the random voice. "_All you need is a Shinra Trap Kit!" _

"A what?"

"_Yes, the Shinra Trap Kit!" _Suddenly, ropes, shovels and other D.I.Y. Trap set appeared out of nowhere in a split second. The family were shocked and amazed. "_Guaranteed to catch burglars, cats and whatever who try to steal your valuables. Order now for only 4,000 gils!"_

"But the stuff is already here."

...

"_That'll be 4,000 gils. Plus two hundred for instant delivery. The total is 4,200._"

...

"Oh... okay."

"_What are you waiting for? Go and use Shinra Trap Kit. Available at all leading stores nationwide._" The family smirked as a dark aura appeared around them. "Now it's time to kill a certain monkey...heeheehee."

Meanwhile, a blonde haired boy with a tail sneezed. "Did somebody talk about me?"

* * *

_Later..._

After the decision was made, they went right -which was Lightning's choice. She did the same thing. Storming off the right path and letting them follow her, simple as that. But what they did not know that this path held so many booby traps. Pits covered with leaves, the hidden looped ropes that when you step on it you'll be hanged to the tree, you name it. It was as if there were traps set everywhere! "I knew we should go to the left."

"Shut up, blondie." She said. Cloud groaned as they cautiously take one step at a time. There seemed to be no traps falling down on them or whatever. Well, it wasn't until...

_Beep, beep, beep, beep_

Zack sneezed and stepped on a hidden button. "Oooh snap..."

...

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

"WHAT DID YOU DO, ZACK?" Cloud yelled as they started running for their lives. "HOW THE HECK AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW?" He replied. Noctis was both dodging and running at the same time. Due to this, he wasn't aware that there was a looped rope. His foot stepped on it and he was dragged all the way up in the tree. "Noctis!"

"D-Don't worry about me! GO!"

On the other hand, Zack wasn't listening to Noctis. He ran to help the raven-haired guy. "Don't worry, Noct!" He said. "I'm comi- Oh!" Zack bent down as he saw a squirrel look at him with its big shiny eyes. To Zack, it was really cute. "Hello there, little fella." He reached out his hand to touch it. Suddenly, the squirrel went berserk and launched itself to scratch the poor SOLDIER in the face. "AAAHHH! Get it off me!"

Meanwhile Cloud and Lightning were fighting off some flying robots that were attacking them. Lightning dodged as one was about to attack with a laser. Cloud was also slashing several robots that were after them. But there was one robot that they didn't notice. It was so much faster than the robots that they were fighting. "What the-?" It swirled around the both of them and tied them together with a rope.

"NA NA NA NA NA~" The robot stuck out a tongue and left. In the background, Zack as still struggling to free himself from the deathly grasps of a squirrel platoon. Noctis still got his feet tied to a tree. In the middle of the commotion, they could hear footsteps from behind the trees. They could hear someone chuckling too. Little by little, footsteps grew louder and louder until it stopped.

"Cloud?"

The four turned their heads to this person. It was Vincent Valentine in his usual red cape, long hair and long pointed shoes. There was an eerie silence in this awkward meeting. The only sound there was the jungle noises and the flapping of the birds' wings.

_Pfft._

Suddenly, this usually silent man chuckled. The chuckle turned louder until it was a big laugh. Cloud and Zack who really knew about Vincent had their eyes wide as saucers. "Well," He said slightly recovering from the comic situation. "What do we have here?" A smirk was placed in his lips. Cloud was obviously not amused and so is Lightning, who hates being laughed at.

* * *

_Later..._

"So... all these booby traps are yours?" Zack said as he pulled out Cura from his pouch. The green material let out a small glow as it was pulled out. Lightning, on the other hand, was busy shining her gunblade. "Yep." Vincent replied as he fixed up his traps. "I decided to try out this new trap kit Shinra had on sale."

"Oh, that." Cloud tried to untie the rope to free the dangling Noctis. "I guess the price speaks the quality." Unfortunately for the hanging SOLDIER, Cloud was too busy talking that he was barely paying attention to untying him. As a result, he fell down with a loud _thud! _"What are you guys doing here anyway?" He asked.

_Splash! _All eyes turned to Zack. "Ehehehehe... Let's say I drop the material by accident."

"ZACK!"

"What? It was an accident!" He shrugged. Noctis slowly stood up from the fall. He went to his small brown bag and pulled out a green materia. "Here ya go." He tossed it to the injured SOLDIER. Zack began curing his injuries. "Thanks, Noct." He said. Vincent cleared his throat before going back to their own topic. "So, what brings you here in this miserable forest?" He said before setting up the traps.

"We're on a mission," Lightning said. "To find and observe Sephiroth." The word _Sephiroth _seemed to have caught his attention. He faced her, though he was still having the usual expression on his face, with curiosity. And then it hit him. "Was it anything related to what had happened last night?" The female SOLDIER closed her eyes. "I'm afraid so."

Suddenly, the earth began to shake. But this was not an ordinary earthquake. There was also a loud _THUD! _accompanied by it. It sounded like huge footsteps. The group were keeping their balance as the quake began to become more intense by the minute. They pulled out their weapons.

"It's a King Behemoth. It must be awake." Vincent said as he readied his guns. The trees in front of them were torn down as a huge behemoth appeared before them. It let out a very loud roar that echoed throughout the forest. "Be careful! The traps I've set are already ready."

"I can see tha-" Before Zack could continue, the King Behemoth took another gigantic step and the ground cracked, causing it to break into a large deep pit. The group fell down into the hole, escaping from the battle.

* * *

A/N: Nothing special going on this chapter but hey, I was taking an exam (and had writer's block at the same time).


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